Domestic sprinkler system



Oct. 22, 1935. J CQLEMAN 2,Q17,841

DOMESTIC SPRINKLER SYSTEM Filed June 20, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 /5672 o/@2726 INVENTOR.

MQQQ .3 M B ATTORNEY Oct. 22, 1935. L M 2,017,841

DOMESTIC SPRINKLER SYSTEM Filed June 20, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 am-52 (9/? mm INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEY J. B. COLEMAN DOMESTIC SPRINKLER SYSTEM Fiied June 20, 1932- 3 vSheets-Sheet 3 IIIIII fainfl (5/6773 an) 'INVENTQR.

1 ATTOQNEY Patented Oct. 22, 1935 PATENT OFFICE DOMESTIC sramxma SYSTEM John B. Coleman, Providence, R. I., assignor to General Fire Extinguisher Company, Providence, R. I., a corporation of Delaware Application June 20, ,1932, Serial No. 618,265

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in domestic sprinkler systems. More especially it has to do with an automatic system particularly designed for home use and so fabricated and supplied that the ordinary house dweller can readily install it.

The protective value andeffectiveness of automatic sprinkler systems have long been recognized and such systems are regularly installed in factories, oflice buildings, hotels, schools,

- churches, club houses and other buildings of appreciable size. Large corporations have grown up whose business is primarily concerned with the installation of such systems in these very sizable risks. The system as generally knowninvolves a large footage of pipes of graduated sizes, with numerous Ts, elbows, couplings, unions, pipe hangers, sprinkler heads, dry pipe valves, alarm valves, gate valves and many other devices and incidental fittings. The pipe and fittings are sent to the risk and a corps of men then proceed to cut the pipe into proper lengths, thread it, install it and attach the various valves and fittings.

These men are skilled workmen and so a very I dangerous accumulation of old newspapers which are likely at any time to cause spontaneous combustion. Or the attic, around the chimney, is also a favorite collecting spot for things which may prove highly inflammable, especially if the chimney itself becomes defective as chimneys are wont to do. And in the modern home where the family automobile occupies a room of its own in the basement the gradual accumulation of grease and oil, to say nothing of discarded cleaning cloths, results in a fire hazard that can not be lightly disregarded even though supposedly fire-proofwalls and barriers are provided. To install the usual type of automatic sprinkler system in these all too common places of fire danger is, as before stated, an expensive undertaking and one usually deemed a luxury that can not be afforded.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a system that can be purchased by the home owner at a small cost and which he can install himself with hardly more than an ordinary monkey wrench and hammer as his tools. 5 It is a feature of the system that parts or sections can be assembled at the place of manufacture and yet this system as a whole'can be shipped in a generally dismantled but compact. condition to the ultimate user. It is a further 10 feature that each such factory assembled section is so arranged and constructed that it can be easily, but only correctly, connected to another similar section or to a different section which comprises a novel fitting that constitutes a shut- 16 off valve, an alarm valve and a test valve all in one unit. Such a system can-be unpacked and quickly installed without the cost of skilled labor; it is adaptable'for protecting spaces of varying extent and location and because of this and 20 its fool-proof features, the inexperienced house dweller need not worry about the fuss and bother and high cost of installation. For a modest expenditure with the simple equipment herein disclosed he can effectively protect his home and 25 dear ones against the greatest fire menace in hishouse.

The best mode in which I have contemplated applying the principles of my invention is shown. in the accompanying drawings but these are to 30 be taken, as merely illustrative and it is intended to cover by suitable expression in the appended claims whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawings: 35

Figure 1 is a perspective showing a typical installation of a system embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic showing of a system; i v

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the valve unit with the detachable cover removed;

Figure 4 is a plan of the unit with the cover and top nut removed;

Figure 5 is another elevation of this unit 'on line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a view showing the section of the system which connects with the valve unit and another section attached thereto;

- Figure 7 is an elevation of one of the compression fittings-with sprinkler attached and a cap nut for closing the end; and

Figure 8 is a view in section showing a plug for closing the end of a pipe. v

Referring more particularly to the drawings,

Figure 1 suggests how the system might be installed in a modern cellar, part of which serves as a garage. The system is connected to the domestic water supply pipe I, preferably near the meter 2. An ordinary T fitting 3 can be inserted in this line and a nipple 4 added to which the valve unit 5 may be attached by simply threading it on the nipple and turning it until tigh The inlet end of this unit is provided with internal' threads 6 to receive the nipple 4, and its outlet has a threaded stem 1 adapted to receive a so-called section of the system. This particular section has a piece of bendable pipe 8 permanent- 1y connected at one end to a compression fitting 9 either by soldering or brazing or the like. A coupling nut I0 is slipped on this piece of pipe and then its free end 8a is flared to fit the tapered seat la on the exposed stem of the valve unit. The section is thus fabricated at the place of manufacture and all the house owner has to do is place the flared end 8a of the pipe against the tapered seat la on the valve unit, engage the nut ID with the threads on the stem and tighten the nut with a monkey wrench.

The compression fitting 9 just described has another pipe I l permanently connected to it on one end anda threaded stem I 2 with taper seat |2a at the other end. The stem and the pipe last mentioned are of difierent size-from the piece of pipe 8 which connects with the valve unit, thus insuring that the proper piece of pipe leading from the fitting will be secured to the unit."

The remainder of the system comprisesone or more sections each of which consists of a length of bendable metal pipe II, a compression fitting I3 with inserted automatic sprinkler head l4 and a compression nut l5. One end of the pipe II is permanently secured in the fitting and its other end H a flared, after the nut lihas been slipped over it. This, it is to be understood, is all done before the section leaves the manufacturer. When received by the ultimate user, he has only to place the flared end Ha of the pipe on the seat l3a of the fitting heretofore described and set up the compression nut I 5. The pipe is then bent to bring the sprinkler head where desired; the latter being positioned either above the fitting as shown at A in Figure 2 or pendent from it as at B in Figure 2. Another section is now attached to this fitting, and still other sections added until as many have the stem end of the last fitting closed by a cap nut l6, such as is shown in Figure '7, or the pipe may be cut of! near a fitting, its new end fiared and closed by a plug i6 to which the nut I5 is attached as shown in Figure 8.

The pipe, being bendable, can be easily passed around beams or other timbers, under the stairs or placed anywhere a fire hazard If the pipe of a section is longer than needed, part of it may be cut off and its new end flared and if a fitting happens to come where no sprinkler is desired the latter can be removed and a plug inserted in its place. The several nuts can be made tight with a-monkey wrench and the pipe held in place with clips which can be anchored to the ceiling or beams by nails. When the user h s thus installed the fitting house line.

The unit 5 has a. clapper l8 (see Figure 5) which seats by gravity, when no flow is occurring and which can be positively seated against the supply pressure by a shut-oil stem l9 that extends outside the casing 20 and has a hand wheel 2| for turning it in or out, the stem being threaded in the casing and suitably packed to avoid leakage.

The axle 22 .of the clapper extends outside the water way and has an arm 22a attached thereto which carries a Mercoid" switch 23 consisting of a glass bulb containing a proper charge of mercury. Inside the bulb are exposed ends of wires 24, 25 which areadapted to be connected by the go mercury when the bulb is tilted. This tilted position of the bulb (shown in dotted outline in Figure 3) occurs whenever the clapper is lifted from its seat, as by the flow resulting from the opening of a sprinkler head. The wires 24, 25 are light and 25 very flexible and are connected to binding posts 26, 21 from which extend wires 28, 29 to a suitable source of electric current 30 and to an alarm 3| located where desired in the house. Upon the occurrence of a fire with opening of one or more go heads and consequent-flow of water through the valve unit an alarm is thus given indicating that this system is in action;

After the fire is out, the clapper is seated by the hand-operated stem thus shutting off the u flow. The opened heads are removed and new ones screwed into the fittings thus making the loop tight again. The stem is then turned outward 'and the system is again ready to respond if the need arises. 40

In order to test the alarm a plug 3| in the base of the valve unit may be removed. This permits flow comparable to that caused by the opening of a sprinkler and will result in the clapper being lifted and an alarm sounded. If the clapper is held to its seat the plug may likewise be removed to drain water from the system.

' The 'pipe is'readily bendable, the couplings easily made and because of the difif erence in size of some of the connections, the system can only be put together in theproper manner. All this makes it feasible and practicable for the home owner to protect his family and property from fire hazards at a 'very moderate expense.

I claim:

1. Distributing piping for a domestic sprinkler installation comprising, in combination, a T- w coupling with an inlet adapted to be connected to a domestic water supply and having two outlets of different size from said inlet; a piece of bendable pipe attached to one outlet; a coupling nut on said piece of pipe at the end remote from the 5g T-coupling; and a series of connected sections forming a loop extending from said piece of pipe to the other outlet of said T-coupling; each of said sections comprising a piece of bendable pipe,

0. fitting at one end thereof, a coupling nut at the other end thereof; each fitting having an opening with external threads adapted to cooperate with a coupling nut to connect said fitting to an adjacent piece of bendable pipe, andan opening adapted to receive a sprinkler head; the said T-coupling and said sections being so organized as to be assembled in a predetermined sequence to form the said. loop.

2. Distributing piping for a domestic sprinkler installation comprising, in combination, a T- coupling having an inlet adapted to be connected to a domestic water supply, and having two-outlets of a difierent size from said inlet with externalthreads on one of them; and means constituting a distributing loop between said outlets; said means comprising a piece of bendable pipe attached to one outlet of the T-coupling; a coupling nut on said piece of pipe at the end remote from by connect the other bendable pipe thereto and 10 complete the loop.

JOHN B. COLEMAN. 

